Calling all ocean bottomfish anglers

Friday

Mar 28, 2014 at 2:00 AM

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife needs volunteer anglers this spring and fall to help catch and release ocean bottomfish as part of a study on the effectiveness of marine reserves in growing bottomfish.

By Mark Freeman

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife needs volunteer anglers this spring and fall to help catch and release ocean bottomfish as part of a study on the effectiveness of marine reserves in growing bottomfish.

According to Katie Pierson, with the ODFW Marine Reserves research and monitoring project, the purpose of this hook-and-line sampling is to compare fish communities inside and outside of Oregon's Marine Reserves.

Hook-and-line sampling is the only method that gets each fish in hand so scientists can measure its length and weight.

Volunteers will participate in an eight-hour ocean outing leaving from Port Orford, Newport, Depoe Bay or Garibaldi. ODFW will provide the rods, reels and terminal tackle, and no angling licenses are required because volunteers will be participating in scientific research, according to ODFW.

To volunteer, email your name, phone number, email address and which port(s) you'd like to depart from to odfw.marinereserves@state.or.us or call 541-867-7701, ext. 241.

As fishing dates near, program leaders will contact volunteers on the list. Fishing trips will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, according to Pierson.

Since 2012, Oregon has designated five marine reserve sites off the Oregon Coast to advance scientific research and to conserve habitats and biodiversity. Studies of fish communities are one of the ways ODFW is studying the ecological and socioeconomic effects of the reserves, Pierson said.

The award is named for a former council member and honors a person or group making significant contributions to non-motorized trails in Oregon.

Nominations for contributions in 2013 are due to the council by May 1.

Written nominations should address how the candidate's accomplishments benefited various trail users, how their efforts contributed to the creation or maintenance of trails and how they inspired others.

John and Karen Poole of Salem won the award in 2009 for their volunteer work in maintaining hiking and biking trails around Lake of the Woods.

Newman was a former Eugene Register-Guard outdoor writer who was plagued with polio since early childhood, but who wrote passionately about the outdoors. He died in 1992.

For more information and to make nominations, contact Rocky Houston, trails coordinator for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. He can be reached at 503-986-0750 or rocky.houston@oregon.gov.